Cigarette package



Dec. 15,1942. L.. JOHNSON .2,305,428-.v

CIGARETTE PACKAGEy Filed June 12. 1939 sheet's-sheenl PIV is n l l Xml.

"v l ma Nr u( {ooofn w' e1 l NI `V"J\\ h l Y Cil f In aia .Jo/72150 #l al IQ h 71'/ 7' v n--nv---i---I- l v "l/ i DBG 15, 1942. l. l.. JOHNSON CI'GARETTE PACKAGE Filed June 12, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Inga/ald Lfd/M5017;

Patented Dec.' 15, 1942 2,34i5,42181 f y CIGARET' lPaolillo@ 5 IngvaldL. Johnson,` Glendale, Calif. Application' .ruhe 12, 193e, serialy no. 278,669

vi ciaims. '(olp.. 2234-1-51) '.I'his invention relates to a package for cigarettes and has ,asits primary object the provision of means for facilitating opening of thepackage in amanner to permit readyr removal of cigarettes from the package at one Acorner thereof without excessive opening of the package.`

Heretofore it has'b'eenvproposed to equip cigarette packages with tear-olf- `portions involving the employment of scorelines, rip cords-and like,

but in a fashion either diiicult of application -or too costly-to manufacture toresult-in* ai com- 1 mercially practical' package. Furthermore, proposed constructions ofthis characterhave generally disregarded the conventional mechanisms used in packagingl cigarettes and havealso ycon- 1 templated the use -of wrappers quitedifferent from the form of Wrappers now generally in use and for which packaging machines are ordinarily designed to handle, thus-necessitating redesigning of the packaging mechanism which involves such expense and difficulties as to f.

render it'impractical to adopt the new package construction.

'Ihe present invention contemplates the prov vision of a construction and arrangement'in-a tear-off section of the lpackage as will obviate the objectionable featuresabove recited as well as tovaford a more satisfactory and convenientv 'mode ofopeningof :the package; .the preferred embodiment of the invention requiring no alteration `in present modesv of packaging cigarettes and but a minor operation lon'thefconventional Wrapper.

Another object of the invention Vis to provide a construction in a' cigarette package involving an inner wrapper and an independently applied v l yaroundithe cigarettes contained lthereby `and outer wrapper` in which bothwrappers. are equippedV with'.k tear-ofsections arranged in such cooperative relation as to enable coincident severance of both wrappers in effecting openjuxto-pos'itioning (the. tear-off lines in the v completed package the perforations of the tear- Aoff linel of the outer` wrapper will be ofi-set relative to vthe perforations ofl the. inner Wrapper so 'that eachwrapper will afforda seal for the perforationsin the other wrapper and whereby I"the package will be` maintained air tight irrespective of the perforations inthe wrappers.

' 1 A further -vobject istoprovide aconstruction of, the abovecharacter whereby the portion of lthe packageremoved; by tearing the inner and outer- Wrappers alongv tear-off lines ywill eiect opening of the package across one end portion of a buttend of' the' package, vand also along f, adjacent sides ofthe package thereby providing an opening inthe package through which a suf- 1 of: its being readily graspedfrom ytheside thereof in `effecting its removalfrom the package.

cient Alength of a cigarette is-exposed to permit Withnthe foregoing objectsY in view, together with such other objectsand advantages as may I vsubsequently appear; the invention is carried r into effect-as illustrated by'w'ay ofexample in the accompanying drawingsinwhich:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the'cigarette wrapper rshowing the inner and; outer wrappers unfolded andv` .disposed ink the superimposed relationv oc- ,.cupied` when folded to ,formqa package, yand showing therelative arrangemnt of perforated vrated tear-off line; 35`

Fig. 3 isa perspectivev v-iew showing theinner wrapper ofthe package `as partiallyowrapped lWith'portions of fthe end flaps-in Aan Aopen posiing vof the package by removal of a corner por'- tion thereof. Y

Another object is to provide a off line of the outer Wrapper will beldisposed in tionv with. the perforated tear-ofil line of.; the

such proximity to the tear-off lineof theA inner Wrapper that both wrappers may be readily ysevered collectively along their respective 'tearcigarette pack- V age wrapper having an inner wrapperand'an package showingthe outer wrapper superimposedo being ofthe side of the vwrshown nFg. 5f?

tion to clearly show vt-he arrangement of the .perforated itear-oiffline ,with which the inner wrapper.isfequipped;4 v.

Fig. 4 isfa perspectivefview` ofthe structure i v-fshown'in Fig. 3 with the endflaps ofthe inner wrapper `overlapped intheir closed position;

l.Fig.--5 isa perspectiveview of the completed on the inner wrapper with,` theperforated tearoff line on the outer wrapper in juxtaposed rela- Fig.-6 ris a perspective view depicting the initial step in effecting opening of the package by removing the tear-off portion thereof; Ltheview package opposite that showing the-parts as positioned in Fig. 7 and preliminary to effectingremoval of a portion of the end wall of the package;

Fig. 10 is a plan view of a portion of the superimposed wrappers showing a modification of the 1 invention in which the inner Wrapper is equipped with a rip cord; i

Fig. 11 is a perspective view of the package as l formed from the wrappers shown in Fig. 10;

Fig. 12 is a plan view depicting a further modified form of the invention in which the inner wrapper is fitted with a finger-hold tab to facilitate removal of the tear-ofi portion of the package;

formation of top and bottom end flaps on the package.

In carrying out the invention the outer wrap- Der B is formed with an arcuate perforated tearoff line 22 which leads inwardly from the upper margin thereof at opposite sides of the fold lines I8 at either end of the wrapper and extends downwardly across the space bordered by the lines I8. 'I'he inner wrapperA is formed with an arcuate -line 23- of tear-01T perforations arranged toA underlie theY row 22 of perforations on the outer wrapper but out of register therewith; the end portions of the arcuate line 23 continuing across the end of the flap on the upper mar- Igin` of the inner wrapper.

- 'Ifhe outer end portions of the tear-off line 23 terminate at the edge of the inner wrapper adjacent they intersection with such edge of the Fig. v13 is a perspective view of a fragmentary p portion of the package showing the application of the construction shown in Fig. 12.

Referring to the drawings more specifically A indicates generally the rectangular inner'wrapper of a cigarette package which in accordance with conventional practice is formed of an inner layer I6 of paper and an outer layer I1 of foil length substantially corresponding to that of the inner wrapper A, but when applied in the package is off-set longitudinally of the outer wrapper to effect a space between the joints 'at-the united ends of the inner wrapper and of the outer wrapi per. The wrappers A and B are shown in Fig.' l in their relative superimposed relation to each other when combined in the completed package, but it will be understood however; that in ac,- cordance with the present practice Vthe inner wrapper A is first formed to encompass the oiga.,- rettes as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, and is thereafter equipped with the outer wrapper B. When the wrapper is unfolded as shown in Fig. lfthe outer wrapper B is disposed with its upper margin ofiset inwardly relative to the' upper margin of the inner Wrapper A and with the lower margin oi the outer wrapper B contiguous to the lower margin of the inner wrapper A. v

While the wrappers A and B as initially produced are not formed with fold lines,` such lines are here indicated in Figs. 1 and 2 where the folds will occur after completion of the package, which showing is made for the purpose of clearly designating the location of tear-ofi lines with which the wrappers are equipped in accordance diagonal fold lines 2| leading from the pairl of fold lines I8 crossed by the tear-ofi' llne.23. A perforated line24, 0r slit,.leads inwardly from the upper' edge of the.inner` wrapper along or ladjacent'to the outer end `portion of at least initial tearing of the line.;23 onopening the package. as-will later appear. ,e

In order to effectsimultaneous tearing of the inner and outer wrappers along the perforated tear-ofi` lines 22 and 23, the outer wrapper B is fastened to the inner wrapper at some point within the area bounded by the tear-oir line 22 of the outer wrapper. To this end an adhesive l maybe used. and is here shownas applied in a strip `25'extendingv along the margin of the inner face of thaouter vwrapper B lbetween the ends of .the arcuate 'row of perforations `22 as particularly shown in Fig. 2. Manifestly this strip of f 4- adhesivemay comprise a gum applied to the wrapper in the package..

In applying the wrappers A and B, theinner lwrapper A is initially positioned around ,a pack of cigarettes C with theends of the wrapper A `overlapped on `one side of the'pack and with the marginal folds of the wrapperA turned inwardly .and overlapped as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, to form the butt ends of-the package in the usual fashion; the end folds embodyingfiaps a turned inwardly from the opposite side-ends of the pack together Vwith side flaps .b turn'ed inwardly from 4the oppositesides of the pack in overlapped rewith my invention. A pair of fold lines -I8 are indicated as extending transversely of the combined inner and outer wrappers A and B adjacent the ends thereof; the spaces or4 areas between the lines of each pair indicating the portions of the wrappers that will constitute the end walls of the sides of the package.

The inner and outer wrappers A and B are folded inwardly at their lower end portions along a line indicated at I9- and tlie inner Wrapper is folded inwardly at its upper end along a fold line indicated at 20. Outwardly diverging fold lines 2I are indicated as leading from the intersection of the end fold lines I8 with the marginal fold lines I9 and 20 and which are produced in the lation to the'fiaps a and to each other.. In thus forming the naps a and b,.triangularwebs c are produced at the juncture oi' the aps a with the i ends ofthe iiaps b, which websvc comprise the marginal portions `of the inner wrapper A extending between the diagonal fold lines 2| and the end portions ofthe fold `lines I8. On thus forming the flaps a and bf and the Webs c, the perforatedline 24, or slit;l will extend along a f side margin of one of the naps a as shown in Fig.

vwrapper around the cigarette pack, the end portions of the tear-off -lines23 will extend toward asoafias l each other across the butt end' of the package as kshown in Fig. 4 with theirends overlapped while the arcuate intermediate portions of the tear-off line 23r will extend downwardly across an upper corner portion of the 'opposite side wall.

of the package and across the side-end wall thereof thus forming the package with a tearoff line that reaches downwardly from opposed` points onvthel upper margin of a rectangular or cube-like package across opposed sides and an end wall thereof, and also leading across the butt end of the package.

After thus assembling the inner wrapper the outer wrapper B is applied in the usual manner with its ends off-set and united in'relation to the joined ends of the inner wrapper; the lower marginal portion of the Wrapper B being folded `under the lower butt end of the package in the usual manner.

In applying the outer wrapper B the tear-off line 22 is positioned in substantially overlying relation to the portion of the tear-off line 23 of the inner wrapper extending along the sides and side-end'wall of the wrapper as indicated in and-24 is grasped between the thumb and finger and lifted upwardly to effect initial tearing of the end portion on the perforated line 23 as shown Lin Fig. 6, whereupon a continued pull is effected on the tab d formed by this initial tear so as to continue the tear downwardly over one side of the package and around a corner thereof as shown in Fig. '7. In effecting this tear a simultaneous tearing action is effected Vthroughout a portion of the tear-off line 23 and throughj out the length of the tear-off line 24 unless the` latter be in the form of a slit, so as-to effect formation of the tab d as particularly shown in Fig. 7. By reason of the outer wrapper B being collectively torn along their respective curved tear-off lines 23 and 22 sothat on continued pull on the tab d both the inner and outer wrappers will be severed to effect7 either partial opening of an upper corner portion of the package, as shown in Fig. 8, or complete opening -ofsaid corner portion byueffecting complete tearing offk of the portions of the wrapper encompassed .by

the tear-off lines, and whereby end portions of the cigarette C' are exposed so that they may be readily grasped at thesides of end portions thereof to effect their'removal from the package in a well-known manner.

In the modified form of the invention shown in Figs. 10 and 11, the tear-off line 2 3 of the inner wrapper is equipped with,a ripcord 26 that is stitched through the perforations of the line 23 in a conventional manner and which rip cord has A revenue stamp E is then applied to. the' yan end yextended from the margin of the wrapper so that when the latter is applied to the pack as shown in Fig. y11 the cord maybe readily grasped to effect ripping ofthe pack along the tear-o lline's 22 and 23 as before described. .f

In the formoflthefinvention shown in Figs.-

'I and 13, a tab 21. is affixed to the margin ofthe inner wrapper 'A to protrude therefrom between the ends of the tear-off linef`23 in such manner that on applying the wrappers'the tab 21 may be folded back over the Aflap a; and be projected outwardly from the end 4wallon the back in convenient reach so that a pull onthe'tab 2T will effect severanceofthe wrapper along the com- 15 bined tear-off lines`22 and 23. Wherethe rip cord and tab. construction is employed, as yshown in Figs. 10 to 13 inclusive, the supplemental tear-v 1 i -off line 24 shown in thev construction` of Figs. 1

lines being juxtapositioned and arranged to enthe ends of which terminate in the upper margin f 4;, of the wrapper andthe intermediate portion of which extends across a.v portion of the wrapper a `that is embodied in a side-end wall of the package,'and an inner wrapper folded-around a pack of cigarettes having'an arcuate perforated tearof! line adjacent to but out of regstrywith the tear-off line of the outerjwrapper, whereby each Wrapper will seal the perforation in theother wrapper,'said wrappers being adheredy together .at the portions'thereof encompassed by said tearon lines'.,.'. a l

3. The structure'lcalledfor in claim 2 in which the inner'wrapper has a marginal 'portion projectingbeyond the perforated upper ortion of the outer wrapper which isfolded over. a butt end l v, M sldeflaps formed on said 1nner wrapper,v and iromvthe adjacent end flap along a line inter. 'I

mediatethe end portions of the tear-onfv line in the stated marginal portion of sai-d inner wrapper.

7i! INGVALD L.y JOHNSON.

`of the cigarette pack by end flaps and overlying in which the perforated tear-off linevof said in-v 

